Of Aunts & Nieces
by bofomania
Summary: Three weeks after the Explosion, the victorious multispecies fleet is still trapped in the Local Cluster. Since her return aboard the Normandy, a few days ago, Tali'Zorah has obstinately refused to leave the planetside hospital where Shepard lay in critical condition. Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay has decided to investigate her niece's unbecoming behavior.


Three weeks after the explosive ending to the battle around Earth, which damaged the Charon Mass Relay as well as the Citadel, what remains of the victorious multispecies fleet is trapped in the Local Cluster. Aboard the Normandy, Tali'Zorah has made her way back to Earth three days ago and has, since then, obstinately refused to leave the planetside hospital where Shepard lay in critical state. Admiral Shala'Raan Vas Tonbay has cleared part of her busy schedule to personally investigate her niece's unbecoming behavior.

This one-shot assumes a 'destroy' ending to Mass Effect 3, with a surviving male Shepard and a relationship with Tali. I went along with the ME3 scene where Shepard asks if he is Tali's 'dirty little secret' and where Tali asks him: "Can we keep this quiet, at least in front of the admirals?"

Thanks to Vocarin for beta reading this piece.

Cover image (Tali'Zorah &amp; Shala'Raan) from anorexianevrosa (deviantart), permission pending.

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**Of Aunts &amp; Nieces**

Having powered down her large shuttle, the only one she had been able to requisition on short notice, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay proceeded to the airlock. She had felt the small but sudden increase in downward pull when the ship's artificial gravity had been cut. It was the exact same sensation she felt every time she landed on Admiral Hackett's flagship, where the regular meetings of the Joint Military Council took place. It was also a reminder of the gravitational difference between Rannoch and Earth.

Waiting for the airlock's pressure to equalize with that of the outside, she reviewed the holographic map provided to her by Alliance Command. This was a major support base of the Alliance, installed hastily in the first few hours after the Explosion, three weeks ago already. It was located on a large island near the eastern extremity of a sea close to the equator. According to the map, the landing pad she had been directed to was on the opposite end of the base from her destination. _Let's hope I won't lose too much time getting there._ She had a busy schedule and hated few things more than to be slowed down by technicalities.

It took only a few seconds for the airlock's computer to chime, signaling that the procedure was complete. Pressing a key on her omnitool's haptic keyboard, the hatch opened outwardly on its horizontal floor-level hinge and started its transformation into a downward ramp. This was an old shuttle - this type of hatch was completely out of fashion nowadays, but Shala had always appreciated its elegance and practicality. A major drawback was its slowness, but this gave her time to adjust the tint of her visor. Indeed, the ambient light outside was much brighter than on Rannoch, as could be expected from Sol, a blazing yellow-white G-type main sequence star.

She stepped out and, from the top of the ramp, took a moment to assess her surroundings - this was her first time on the human homeworld, a moment that deserved to be appreciated despite her schedule and the reason of her visit. She immediately took a liking to the sky, a uniformly blue, cloudless expanse. Looking down, she was less pleased with the ground. Now that she saw it from up close, the 'landing pad' her ship occupied revealed itself to be an uneven section of open field which, until recently, appeared to have been dedicated to agriculture. It was heavily damaged by the trampling of feet and vehicles. She gazed at the handful of other ships standing nearby; they were all of the Alliance, and a few were being serviced by crews of human personnel. Further away, she could see lines of trees and a few low lying buildings. Further still, low rolling hills blocked the horizon. There was no sign of the nearby sea, as expected from the location of the base, more than 10 kilometers from the nearest coast.

Her observations completed, Shala spotted a uniformed human a few meters beyond the foot of her shuttle's ramp - he was apparently waiting for her. Of average built for his species, he looked much younger than most officers she was used to meet on a regular basis in her role as the quarian representative on the Joint Military Council. His dark hair was cropped short in the usual human military fashion.

Taking a step closer, the man saluted her formally. "Admiral Shala'Raan?"

She nodded and, as she started down the ramp, noticed for the first time the presence of small dark things flying by. She quickly realized these were arthropods - apparently, the planet was infested by them. Knowing that they were harmless, she decided to ignore the small creatures.

Still saluting stiffly, the human presented himself. "Lieutenant Stelios Petrakis. Welcome to Base Nicosia. I'll be your guide during your visit, Ma'am."

She had gotten used to human military decorum in the last few weeks. Today however, she was on personal business and cared little for it. "At ease, Lieutenant. From now-on, please spare me the salutes and other formalities - just show me proper respect, and I'll be satisfied. Understood?"

The human let go off his salute, "Yes, ma'am. If you are ready, I'll lead you directly to the hospital. Admiral Zorah has been alerted to your arrival."

"Let us proceed right away, then." She didn't have much time to devote to this visit which, officially, was for the purpose of catching up with her niece, but had in fact been made necessary by Tali's behavior since her return aboard the Normandy, three days ago. Her refusal to leave Shepard's bedside had been noticed and had sparked a few rumors on the quarian intranet, which she felt imprudent to ignore. Tali's nomination to the Admiralty Board had been controversial, and Shala was worried by the possibility that Daro'Xen and her supporters could use the rumors to discredit her. She was aware of other rumors - clans usually supporting Zaal'Koris were said to be in talks with Daro's factions. Shala wasn't really surprised - these clans had always had a strong anti-Zorah stance.

Following in the human's steps, Shala thought of her niece's situation. She knew that deep bonds could develop between individuals experiencing the dangers of battle together and, from that perspective, it was entirely natural for Tali to display an obvious and profound loyalty to Shepard. After all, the man had also been her mentor during her pilgrimage. Shala had always been impressed by the girl's mixture of intelligence, industry and selflessness, traits that came from her mother, but was aware also of her somewhat limited political insight. She shook her head. _Unfortunately, she has inherited little of her father's political acumen._ Indeed, how else could her niece fail to realize that her current conduct could be misinterpreted by her fellow quarians.

She fully intended to set things right by bringing Tali back with her so that she could assume her role on the Admiralty Board. _That will cut the rumors short._ Deep down however, Shala also entertained the fear that the rumors could be true, but she didn't want to think of it. Dismissing the unwelcome thoughts, she tried to pay more attention to her surroundings.

They were walking briskly toward a prefab building festooned by multiple antennas, which she understood was the base's flight control center. On each side of the building were a series of anti-aircraft turrets, which reminded Shala of the tense situation on Earth, a consequence of the sudden defeat of the Reapers. In lucky nations, there was political strife as various indoctrinated groups vied for control, several conflicts having already degenerated into civil war. Meanwhile, the unlucky nations faced starvation and epidemics due to severely compromised civilian infrastructures. There was also the constant fear that some Cerberus assets could still be active on the planet.

The lieutenant interrupted her train of thought with a polite enquiry about her flight, to which she replied, "It was uneventful. However, I flew over a fairly large city on my way down, just west of our position. I couldn't help but notice the extensive damage."

"You must be referring to Nicosia." After a moment of hesitation, he added, "I had family there."

She glanced at him - the human had a hard expression on his face, and she had noted his use of the past tense. Understanding what he had meant, she offered, "I'm sorry for your losses."

"Thanks. I'm sorry for yours too. I know quarians lost a lot a people during the battle."

"That's true, but these sacrifices have not been in vain - they will be remembered." She had come to terms with the depressing number of deaths, rationalizing it as the price paid for the time that had been necessary to connect the Crucible to the Citadel, and for Shepard, Anderson - or whoever else had accompanied them on the Citadel - to unleash the power of the large anti-Reaper weapon.

Shala wanted to believe the Explosion and its shockwave had been enough to win the war, but there was no way of knowing and she - along with everybody on the Joint Military Council - could only be cautiously optimistic. The patrols had found no remaining Reaper forces yet in the Local Cluster, and the news were similar in every Cluster that was lucky enough to have a functioning QED communication device as well as survivors able to use it. However, there were countless other worlds in the galaxy which were out of touch, and then there was all the space in between them - who knew how many Reapers still remained. Rannoch was among the worlds from which no news were available, and this was a source of great anxiety among her people. Her thoughts briefly went to Zaal'Koris, who had stayed on the Homeworld, along with all those who were too old, too young or too sick to fight.

They talked no more after their short but grim exchange. Having gone through the flight control center, the lieutenant led her to a wheeled ground vehicle on the other side of the building and drove her toward the hospital.

The dusty 'road' they were following was large enough for two lanes and was lined by storage areas and living quarters. Along the way, Shala observed with interest the tents in and around which Alliance personnel were busy at various activities. Made of light materials, the surprisingly large squarish structures were an excellent choice for a temporary shelter. Quarians had their own version, of course, but it was somewhat smaller and she wondered if it could be improved by borrowing from the human design. Using her omnitool, she took a few pictures for future reference.

After several minutes and what looked like a couple of kilometers, the vehicle reached an area enclosed by a high fence topped by barb wire, beyond which more of the large human tents could be seen. According to Shala's map, this was the hospital. She was surprised at not seeing a more solid structure. Tents were notoriously difficult to keep clean, and no quarian would consider using these for a hospital. She shrugged, concluding that sick humans could probably tolerate that level of exposure without problem.

The lieutenant drove the vehicle to a gate barring an opening in the fence, flanked by a large sign that Shala's communication suite easily translated as "Alliance critical care Hospital - No admission without business." A soldier came along the side of the vehicle, eyeing them suspiciously as he raised his omnitool to interact with both the lieutenant's and hers. The man's dour expression changed when he became aware of her identity, his body straightening up in a stiff formal salute, "Admiral Shala'Raan."

She uttered a vague "At ease" and the soldier quickly opened the gate to let the vehicle in.

Further on, the road quickly opened into a large courtyard lined by more tents. There was a fair amount of activity in the courtyard, with people coming and going, but the activity was more intense on the right side, leading Shala to conclude that this had to be the main area of the hospital. Her impression was soon confirmed as, while the lieutenant was parking the vehicle, a shuttle landed on the same side of the courtyard and disgorged several humans carrying a patient on a stretcher through the opening of the nearest tent. The latter was flanked by a large sign spelling, according to her translator, 'Emergency Room Entrance - Do Not Obstruct.'

Pointing in the general direction where the patient had disappeared, the lieutenant explained, "This is the hospital proper. It's one of our top facilities for the moment. Our best specialists and cutting edge equipment are all here, or so we've been told. Cases that can't be managed in primary, secondary or tertiary facilities are brought here. Commander Shepard is somewhere back there, in a high security subdivision. We all hope he's going to come out of here on his two feet."

Shala nodded at that. "The sentiment is the same among my people. It would definitely be a boost to everybody's morale if he made it through his current predicament." Quarians owed much to this exceptional human. Dignitaries of every species present in the local cluster were trying to one up each other in terms of medals and other honorific titles they promised to bestow on Shepard in a future grandiose ceremony, and quarians were doing the same. The Admiralty Board had already approved the creation of several new medals for non-quarians. No doubt Shepard would be granted each and every one of them. Her only misgivings toward the man were related to the rumors concerning her niece, but she hoped these worries could soon be put to rest.

Her guide pointed to a series of tents on the left side of the courtyard, opposite the Emergency Room Entrance. "We're going that way. These are the living quarters, where most of the hospital personnel are residing and where Admiral Zorah has her quarters too. A room in one of the first tents has been reserved for your meeting."

As she followed the young man, Shala watched the other people out in the courtyard. Most appeared to be hospital workers, but there were also a few convalescing patients, likely preferring the sight of the planet's early afternoon bright blue sky to that of a tent ceiling. There probably were a few visitors too, like herself, but she couldn't tell. She saw a couple of asari talking together in the shadow of a tent, but there was no quarian in sight, let alone her niece.

In short order, the lieutenant lead her to a compartment identified as 'Room 3,' in a tent identified as 'Visitor Center.' Before taking his leave, the human explained that he had received a message from Tali, saying that she was on her way, and that he would meet her at the parked vehicle when she was ready to go back to her shuttle.

Alone, Shala looked around. The room was roughly twice the size of her personal cubicle on the Tonbay, and seemed awfully empty, containing only a shabby looking table surrounded by three equally shabby looking chairs. Getting close to one of the room's walls, she realized it was made of synthetic material - some kind of weaved polymer fiber. Her curiosity satisfied, she turned to the nearest chair and warily sat down, unsure of the gracile construct's ability to hold her weight. After a few seconds of hesitant squirming, satisfied by the chair's resilience, she eased herself in and activated her omnitool with the intention of keeping current with her duties.

Having opened her messaging application, she barely had time to get annoyed at the number of messages flagged 'priority' that were already piled in the inbox, when the door to the room flew open and a quarian woman stepped in.

Shala got up at once, turning her omnitool off. Her niece probably was the only quarian on this part of the planet but still, she recognized the woman's suit adornments. "Tali."

The younger woman approached, opened her arms and embraced her, "Auntie Raan."

Shala stiffened reflexively, unused to such a display of affection. But she realized her silliness at once and returned the embrace; they were alone in a tent on planet Earth and, after all, this probably was the closest she would ever get to what could be called a 'family moment.' Tali was not really her niece - at least in the biological sense. In fact, the young admiral's parents had been Shala's best friends, and the relationship she had kept with Tali was essentially that of an aunt. For her part, Shala never had a child of her own and, despite the current situation, she was glad to have someone like Tali in her life.

Separating after a few seconds, Shala was the first to speak, "I was so worried, Tali. Most ships came back near Earth in the first hour following the Explosion, as soon as it was realized that the Reapers had been neutralized. I kept looking out for your ship, but hours turned into days, and I was losing hope."

"As I messaged you upon my return, The Normandy's QED device broke down when we crash landed. It was maddening not to know what was going on while we made repairs and jumped from system to system on our way back. We still don't know how our ship ended up so far away when the shock wave overtook us and we were ejected from FTL, but we think one of the components that failed in our ship's FTL drive contained Reaper tech and, somehow, it interacted with the shock wave." Tali shook her head. "That's what we got for using a ship built by Cerberus - no matter how careful we can be, their recklessness always comes back to bite."

Smiling despite the mention of the accursed human organization, Shala replied, "It doesn't matter anymore. I thought I had lost you, but here you are."

"Yes, and I'm happy to see you in one piece too, auntie. I should thank the ancestors for that." She sighed. "I read all the reports you sent me in these last couple of days - we lost so many. I expected it to be bad when we got back in this system and saw the remaining ships, but it turns out to be even worse."

Shala understood her niece's sentiments, but this was old news to her. "Our people have already mourned their losses - for now at least. We need to look forward. There's much to do as we get ready for the possibility of a new Reaper attack. There's also the matter of food - our single liveship is already hard pressed growing enough for us and the turians. Then, there's the matter of the local Relay - if we are ever to see our homeworld and the rest of our people again."

Tali glanced around and said, indicating her own helmet, "It'd be better if we discussed privately."

Agreeing, Shala imitated her niece in turning her audio output off and switching on her suit's short range radio. Activating her ommnitool, she accepted Tali's encryption key and turned her secure communication suite on. This only took a moment and, when everything had been set, she commented, "That's better. We should have done that right from the start." She didn't think they were being spied on, but why take any risk.

Tali nodded, "I'm sure what I'm going to ask about is a classified topic anyway. Is it true? There are live Keepers on the Relay?"

Shala was glad Tali had picked up on the indirect hints she had included in a personal message sent on the previous day, along with a bunch of reports and updates. "Yes. We're not sure they're fully functional, however. Exploration of the Relay's interior has barely started and the damage we've seen appears extensive, but finding a few live Keepers scurrying about is a good sign. As you suspected, this is a closely kept secret for now - the Joint Council doesn't want to instill false hope among non-humans, our people included."

"If their role on the Relay is the same as those on the Citadel, this would mean we're going to be stranded around Sol for a few months only instead of years or decades!"

Shala raised a hand to prevent her niece from jumping too far ahead. "We're not sure yet. But if it is as you said, then yes, repairing everything would be just a matter of providing these creatures with the appropriate materials."

"Keelah, this is good news." Tali was now shaking her head, "Again, this shows the foolishness of the old Citadel policies. It was wrong to forbid any investigation of the Keepers and the inner workings of the Citadel and the Relays. Just imagine how much more advanced our technology would be right now."

"A lot of people share your opinion, for what it's worth. As I said, however, we still have a lot to do." Glancing at the diminutive HUD clock in the upper corner of her visor, Shala felt pressed by time - it was going by too fast to her liking. Resolved to steer the conversation toward the other reason for her visit, she added, "But things will be even better now that you're here - you should come back with me to the fleet and assume your responsibilities."

Hearing this, Tali took a step back, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I will not leave Shepard now, in his hour of need."

"Oh?" Shala frowned, disappointed and confused.

The young woman simply reiterated, "I have to stay here for now."

This reaction was not at all the one Shala had hoped for, and fear started to grow in her mind. _Are the rumors true, then? By the ancestors, I'll get to the bottom of this. _Quarians were a very social species, used to navigating the intricacies of interpersonal relationships, and Shala - older and more experienced - had more than one trick up her sleeve. Knowing her niece's character, she decided it was best to avoid antagonizing her. There were other ways to get what she wanted, and she craftily chose to change her approach and divert the conversation to a topic that she thought would be more appealing to the younger woman. "Well then, speaking of Shepard, how is he doing?"

As expected, the young woman dived right in. "They're keeping him in an artificial coma, but the drugs are being slowly tapered. I can't wait for him to wake up. The doctors here are baffled by all the implants and modifications he got two years ago, but they think his prognosis is good. He has no sign of damage to his central nervous system, and they say he's getting better. I've been here for only two days, so I can't say there's been much change from my point of view, but it's true that all the parameters on his chart have been slowly improving since his last surgery ten days ago."

The amount of details her niece had provided was surprising to Shala and she couldn't help but ask, "You were allowed to access all of his data?"

"Of course, but I had to fight for it. At first, they didn't want to let any of the Normandy's crew near him, but we petitioned Admiral Hackett. This led to a review of Shepard's legal files, and all the obstructions disappeared when some friends among the Alliance vouched for me. As Shepard's representative, I get to make decisions for him, and for that I need full access to him and his medical chart."

Many questions were suddenly crowding Shala's mind, and she raised a hand to stop Tali's flow of words. "Representative? What do you mean?"

"It's a human legal procedure. I had to get a crash course in this aspect of human law two days ago, but what I understand is that Shepard filled out legal forms in which he specified who he wanted to make decisions on his behalf if he was in a situation where he could not do it himself. He designated me."

Shala was genuinely surprised yet again, "You mean that, among all his family and friends, he chose you for this very important function?"

"He has no family, Shala. And yes, he has a lot of friends, many were also named on the legal document, but my name was on top of the list."

Shala took note of the pride in her niece's voice as she had stated the fact. It was becoming painfully obvious to her that the rumors had to be true, and she was stumped. The very weirdness of such a xenophilic relationship didn't fit at all, in her mind, with the obvious concern the girl had always shown for her own people. But Shala was used to consider the cold facts rather than her feelings. The main issue was political, and it all came down to management of public perceptions. Her objective was to prevent hostile factions from using Tali's relationship to cause a political storm and divide the people. At this point, the only course of action she could think of was to try to convince her niece that it was in the best interest of all quarians for her to distance herself from the human, at least publicly. This could work since, as far as she could remember, Tali had always been willing to sacrifice her own interest to that of her people. _Maybe I can convince her to desist from her responsibilities as Shepard's representative to someone else._ _I only have to find the right words._

"Shala? Are you alright?"

"Hum, yes." She looked back at her niece. "Sorry, I was thinking of something."

Tali had crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I've known you since I can remember, auntie. Let me guess - you're wondering if Shepard and I are together - like in a relationship."

Shala had not expected her niece to be so direct. "Well-"

"I've been preparing myself for this talk - I knew I couldn't avoid it forever. So this is it." Uncrossing her arms, Tali continued. "The answer is yes. We've been together for close to two years already."

The older woman was surprised yet again. It was not the confirmation of the controversial liaison that got to her this time, but the fact that her niece had managed to keep it secret for so long. The deception revealed an aspect of Tali that she had not expected. In her state of surprise, she made the mistake of not taking enough time to think before opening her mouth, "But our people-"

"Our people?" Tali exploded like a bomb, triggered by her aunt's unfortunate choice of words. "Why does it have to come down to a choice between Shepard and them? He has done more for our people than any quarian I know!"

Cursing her carelessness, Shala raised a hand, trying to put a stop to her niece's angry outpour, "But-"

The finger Tali pointed at her aunt's face stopped barely a centimeter from the surface of her visor, forcing the older woman to inch backward. "There's no but, Shala!" She then pointed the same finger at the tent's ceiling and went on with her rant, "He was on foot when he killed the reaper who was defiling our homeworld. I was there, praying for his safety while he put his life on the line for our people. Where was our people when this happened? Our people was in space, at a safe distance, while HE was taking decisive action from up close."

Tali's depiction of the events near the end of the battle for Rannoch were distorted by emotions - It was true that Shepard had played an essential role in the Reaper Destroyer's downfall, but so had the firepower of the quarian Flotilla. However, Shala wisely refrained from pointing this out, for fear of fanning her niece's flames. She chose instead to remain quiet for the moment, waiting for the young woman to calm down.

Tali went on, struggling to control herself. While still forceful, her voice had already lost some of its angry edge, "We owe Shepard our homeworld! How many more quarian lives would have been lost if it wasn't for him? Without him, the Reapers would be wiping everybody out this time again!" She shook her head, "He had only a few friends to help him in his desperate fight against all odds. And despite all the obstacles, he still managed to save you, me, and all the rest." Looking back at her elder, Tali finished, "Why should I have to choose between him and my people? Isn't he good enough for them?"

This time, Shala was ready with a more conciliatory approach. "Tali, I have nothing against Shepard. You are right - he fully deserves our gratitude. I'm sure most quarians think the same. However, you also know that there are factions among us that would just love to point out that having a relationship with a human puts you, as an admiral, in a potential conflict of interest. This could quickly escalate into clamors for your resignation. We cannot risk such dissension. Not now." She paused for a second, gathering her thoughts. "I don't know if you realize, but since your return, rumors have started circulating on our intranet about you and Shepard. One way to put a stop to this would be for you to leave this hospital. Surely you could fulfill your responsibilities toward him from a distance?"

Tali sighed and paced around for a moment before replying, "I know about the rumors, auntie. I've seen them too. To tell you the truth, the political consequences of my personal choice has been on my mind for some time. Even Shepard knew this could be problematic. I thought I could forget about all of this when I left with him and the Normandy, just after we got Rannoch back. Obviously, I can't run away anymore." She locked eyes with her aunt, "Auntie, I have decided. Whatever happens, I won't let Shepard down. I will stay by his side. This is not negotiable."

Shala was disappointed by her niece's decision, but she couldn't let emotions dictate her response. Things would have been so much easier if Tali had accepted to come back with her to the quarian fleet, but this outcome was now out of reach and the problem remained entirely the same. She needed to find a way to salvage what she could. Looking back at the young Admiral, she replied, "These are just rumors for now, but the longer you stay here, the stronger they'll get until they are rumors no more - it's just a question of time."

"I know. But I trust Shepard entirely. He would never go against quarian interests if they were just, and I would be the first to oppose them if they were not. But if it turns out my fellow quarians can't trust him, then I guess the logical conclusion is that I will have to resign if and when this thing unravels."

"Come on, let's not be hasty." Shala was racking her brain in an effort to find a way to hide her niece's liaison, but no reasonable idea came up. "You have a moderating influence on the Admiralty Board, and finding a suitable replacement would not be easy. It would be preferable to avoid your resignation altogether, but I don't know how to do this."

"As I said, this has been on my mind for a long time. At some point I even toyed with the idea of asking the Conclave to make Shepard into a honorary quarian, like it was done before the exile." She sighed. "But that was just me fantasizing."

Tali's reference to the old practice got Shala's attention. Before the Morning War, like all the other space-faring species, quarians had a complete legal framework to deal with members of other species residing on the homeworld and the colonies. At the time, deserving individuals had been granted the status of honorary quarian, which had allowed them to enjoy the exact same rights as native quarians. Nobody in the last three hundred years had been given this privilege, however, for the obvious reason that it was not a privilege anymore. But things had changed recently, and Shala thought the idea had merit. _Could this be the solution?_ She had been thinking of spreading false rumors to confuse opponents and hide her niece's true situation, but petty tactics like that were of limited effectiveness and could backfire badly. Tali's idea, on the other hand, was of a completely different nature. In fact, it was so far fetched that it could work.

Wondering about her aunt's silence, Tali enquired, "Shala, what are you thinking about?"

"Sorry, I was thinking about your fantasy. Maybe it could work."

"Are you serious?"

"Well, if we could pull this off, your position would be much harder to undermine." But Shala's experienced political mind had quickly found another advantage to such an arrangement. "We could also make a show out of this, in such a way that granting him the honor would improve our standing in the eyes of the humans and the other species." It was obvious to her that bestowing the title on Shepard in a public ceremony would be much more impressive than giving him medals and other decorations.

The young woman didn't seem convinced. "Don't we need the full Conclave to decide on something like this?"

Shala nodded. "In principle, but I believe a ruling by the provisional Conclave would be enough. I seriously doubt it would be overturned by the full Conclave if and when we eventually make it back to Rannoch." The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. It was deliciously devious - nobody would see it coming. She could already envision the lengthy public debates that would result from the request being brought before the assembly - it would be a great distraction for the people, keeping everybody busy for days, if not weeks, taking their minds off their current predicament.

Tali seemed more enthusiastic, "Wow, I can't believe you're really pushing for this."

Shala smiled, "That's politics for you. One minute you're mired in difficulties, then a solution presents itself and the perspective suddenly becomes entirely different. But we have to act without delay, before the rumors become too important." Glancing at the clock on her HUD, she realized her time was almost up. "Talking about time, I'm sorry Tali, but I'm afraid that was all I could spare for our meeting. Duty calls me back to my ship. But we can continue our conversation if you accompany me to my ground vehicle."

"Sure."

As they stepped out of the room, Shala explained, "I will find somebody to present the request. Meanwhile, you'll have to remain as discrete as possible - you cannot be associated with this."

"I understand. That will be easy if I just stay here. Thank-you for doing all of this, Shala."

"Don't thank me. It's in everybody's best interests." They were now outside the tent, walking toward the courtyard where her human guide was waiting by the ground vehicle. Before taking her leave, however, Shala felt a need to ensure her niece was behaving properly. "Now, don't take this the wrong way Tali, but this old aunt wants to know you're not dishonoring your title - please tell me you're not spending all your time at his bedside, just holding his hand."

"Of course not, auntie. I hold his hand only half the time. I spend the other half staring at his beautiful face."

Shala stopped abruptly and turned toward her niece. "Surely you're joking."

Tali chuckled, "I'm just messing with you, auntie. In reality, I have been helping the Alliance technical team with the maintenance of their medical equipment - they need all the help they can get. But I do make a point of not straying too far from him. Still, I believe I have time left for more. I could lead a few committees, provided I can do it from a distance."

A fleeting smile crossed the older woman's face as she resumed her walk. "That's better. I'll find something for you. It won't be hard. You know how it is - there are almost as many committees as there are quarians."

* * *

Later, as her shuttle climbed through Earth's atmosphere, Shala was thinking about her niece. Having had some time to digest the information gained through their short conversation, she had come to a new perspective on the young woman. Tali's resemblance to her mother was more striking than ever and it was obvious, now, that she also shared her mother's attraction to strong male figures. Even the timing of Tali's relationship with Shepard seemed significant in that respect. _Two years._ She shook her head. _Would Tali have gone for Shepard if Rael had not died two years ago?_

Personally, she had never understood what was so interesting in hooking up with someone from another species. It was bound to make things more complicated than necessary. She didn't want to speculate on what kind of intimacy was possible between the two, but it had to be difficult, incomplete and unsatisfying. A relationship with a human was at high risk of failure at some point, if only for the obvious biochemical incompatibility. And that didn't even take into account Shepard's current health situation, the issue of which was still uncertain. She felt for her but, then again, these were mostly Tali's problems. Her role, at this point in time, was reduced to supporting her niece whatever happened. _That's what an 'auntie' is for._

Looking through the viewport at the planet below, her attention shifted to the political game she was about to start. Like all things political, time was of the essence and she'd have to get things moving as fast as possible. First, she'd have to double-check the old law, but she was confident it could be adapted to current practices; quarians had a passion for debates, but most of their laws were straightforward.

Then she'd need somebody to step forward and openly bring the request to the attention of the provisional Conclave. Anybody would do, but a well-known person willing to champion the cause would be better. In this matter, since it concerned Shepard, Shala thought that the best choice would be Han'Gerrel. She might have to twist the other admiral's arm a little, but the old fool would have to accept in the end - it was the best way for him to make amends toward Shepard for the stupid incident he had caused on the geth dreadnaught during the battle for Rannoch.

Shala didn't doubt the issue of the debate and the subsequent vote – quarians owed too much to Shepard, and anyone seriously arguing against the proposition would probably be painted as an ungrateful bigot. Then again, the debate could go in unpredictable directions. The very definition of the term 'honorary quarian,' for example, could be discussed for days.

But in the end, legalizing Shepard as a quarian would serve multiple purposes. It was like hitting several targets with a single projectile, an image that was pleasing to her. _If everything goes according to plan, this will be a masterful political move._ Shala loved her job - it made her feel alive and useful. It also kept her wits sharp.

* * *

**Author's Note**

The war is (maybe) not finished. From the point of view of the characters in Mass Effect, the extent of the victory against the Reapers (after the activation of the crucible and the red explosion) would not be certain. All they would know is that there would be no more Reapers in their immediate galactic neighborhood. Prudence would dictate that they should seriously consider the possibility that there are remaining Reaper forces somewhere. In fact, it would take years before people would become convinced that the Reapers have truly been eradicated. Even then, how could anybody exclude the possibility that, somewhere in the depth of dark space, there are more Reapers lying in wait?

The repair of the Relays (and the Citadel). It would be relatively easy to repair everything with the help of the Keepers if they have not been destroyed by the red explosion and if one assumes that there are Keepers (or similar creatures) on the Mass Relays too. This is possible considering that the red explosion apparently destroys synthetics only (however nonsensical that is) and that the Keepers could be entirely biological (?why not). The large Mass Relays have not been researched properly and no one really knows what's inside of them: why couldn't there be a maintenance crew made up of Keepers or similar creatures?  
Note that, without the Keepers, it would probably take years (decades!) to repair the relays. Also, considering the size of the galaxy (100 000 light years in diameter) and the speed of the quarian fleet (something like 10 light-years per day at most, and that's not counting the stops along the way), it would take more than 20 years (maybe 40!) to get back to Rannoch via FTL flight.

Quarian politics. I suspect quarian politics can be pretty nasty, with a lot more going on in the background than what we see in the game. The way I understand it, each admiral probably relies on the support of some factions/clans among the wider quarian public. There would be some fluidity in the distribution of power due to how many and how strong the factions supporting each admiral are.  
How does Tali become an admiral (between ME2 and ME3)? I always had some difficulties with this idea. In the codex, it is said that quarian admirals are military officers, but it's never stated in the game that Tali is part of the quarian military. Another problem is that Tali does not have strong leadership skills. Because of these consideration, I think it would make sense for Tali to become an admiral only as a consequence of some big political deal: maybe the Zorah family is head of a very powerful clan, enough for Tali to be offered this important position? Tali being some kind of special advisor (in the version where she was exiled in ME2) is more reasonable in that respect.

How would quarian react to Tali and Shepard being together (I mean, realistically)? Quarians are pretty insular and would be suspicious of 'aliens.' They would probably feel victimized by how other species have treated them during their exile. I suspect they would tend to disapprove of xenophilic relationships. Then again, having won back their homeworld and participated in the Reaper war, quarians might be ready to make some exceptions, if only for Shepard. Granting the status of honorary quarian to Shepard could go a long way in smoothing things for him and Tali: it could pave the way for Shepard to live on Rannoch, eventually.

Shameless self-promotion:  
My other fanfiction writings about Tali&amp;Shepard:  
1\. "Quarian with a Shotgun": a Tali-centric retelling of events along the ME1 storyline. Still being updated: next chapter to come in a couple of months (sorry - I'm a slow writer).  
2\. "Will of the Ancestors": a one-shot about Tali's reaction to meeting Shepard, early in ME2 (on Freedom's Progress).  
3\. "Xenophily": Snapshots about Tali &amp; Shepard's relationship in ME2.


End file.
